Sunday, May 28, 2017

150 Years of Rutners in Kolodne

There were a lot of Rutners in the town of Kolodne in what is now Subcarpathian Ukraine (formerly Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia).  And it seems that they were there for quite a long time.
1795 Tolerance Tax Census

In 1795, there were four Jewish heads of household enumerated in Darva (now Kolodne).  One of them was Abraham Rutner.
1795 Tolerance Tax Census for Darva (closeup of above)
Abraham Rutner was my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, and he was the ancestor of all of the Rutners that lived in Kolodne and surrounding towns over the next century-and-a-half.

In this 1795 Tolerance Tax Census (yes, Jews paid a tax to be tolerated and allowed to live in Hungary), Abraham Rutner was married and had 5 daughters and a servant.  The comments at the end of his row say "12 Rft árendát fizet", meaning he was paying 12 Rft's for renting the land. [Rft stands for Rhénus/Rénus Forint, or Rajnai Forint, the currency of the time (Rhenish guilder in English).]

I know my great-great-great-great grandfather Dovid Rutner was approximately 78 when he died in 1872--meaning he was likely born just after this census was taken, since no sons were noted.

In 1944, there were hundreds of Rutner descendants still living in Kolodne and the surrounding villages.  By 1946, there were none--most had been killed, and the few survivors ended up in the United States, Israel, and Australia.  When I visited Kolodne this past September, no Jews remained.

Note:  I'm on Twitter.  Follow me (@larasgenealogy).

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1 comment:

  1. Hello,
    I'm a Ruttner, living in Montreal, Canada. My father comes from Tecova, Ukraine (could be called Tache but I'm not sure how it's spelled in English). His name is Chaim Ruttner (Harry) and his father was Joseph. By chance do you think he comes from the same line you're talking about?
    You can contact me at info@aglowphotography.ca if you want further information. Please dont' reply to the email on this account since I rarely check those.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete